Catch Me If You Can
by westwindwaker
Summary: People should really stop trying to kidnap Tony. It would make his life a whole lot easier. Luckily for him, not only does he have his own smarts to depend on, he also has his teammates! The ones that save the day, AKA the Avengers.


**Catch Me If You Can**

_Chapter 1: Staying Awake?_

Tony sighed and had Happy stop the car. He really needed coffee right now. After having to deal with a Stark Industries board meeting, anyone would. It didn't help that he hadn't slept much recently. Nope, not at all.

The billionaire rubbed his face tiredly before opening the door and stepping out. It wouldn't do to fall asleep in the middle of the coffee shop. He would have to somehow stay awake.

Tired as he was, the engineer was aware of his surroundings as he pushed open the door to the shop with a _tinkle_. Clint and Natasha had grilled it into him to never let his guard down. The inside of the café was well lit and some sort of Irish tune was playing softly. The light illuminated the shop, allowing Tony to clearly see the familiar furniture of the place. Right across from the entrance was the counter at which the transactions happened. Stools were placed in front on either side of the cashier so people had both room to order and sit. Off to the sides of the room there were booths, in case people wanted more privacy.

His eyes widened as he noticed another detail. There was a new employee behind the cash register today. That was unusual. He knew all the workers here by sight. He quickly dismissed this uninteresting tidbit though when he made it to the counter.

The barista perked up at the sight of him. There was no sign of surprise at his presence….hmmm…perhaps the other employees warned him that he might come. Whatever the case, he soon inquired, "What may I serve you today Mr. Stark?"

"I'll take-," he paused a minute to think. He wanted something with a lot of caffeine in it to keep him awake until night. He didn't really like sweetened coffee anyway. So, black coffee it is. He continued, "A coffee, make it black."

The employee just winced at him. That kind of coffee is so bitter! Or at least that was what Stark thought he might be thinking. He actually didn't know since he doesn't have awesome mind-reading powers. Too bad.

While the genius' internal dialogue was going on, the worker just turned around and started making his drink. Once he was done, he turned to face the billionaire again. "That'll be seven-fifty," the barista announced, holding out his hand for the money.

Tony just pulled out a twenty and handed it to the guy. "Keep the change," he suggested as he walked away, carrying his hot coffee. He immediately made a bee-line for the door, the sooner he was out of here the better.

Happy beat him to the door this time and immediately pulled it open for him. The superhero nodded his thanks. Happy closed the door and they began speeding back to Stark Tower once they returned to the car.

Tony relaxed in his seat and just felt the warmth of his coffee cup. It was still too hot to drink unless he wanted a scalded tongue. He continued in his ruminations as he slowly started drifting away. Before Tony could fall asleep however, Happy announced that they were home.

For some reason, standing gave Tony a head rush. He blinked away the dizziness. Still, he felt a bit unsteady on his feet. He had to lean against the limo while he collected himself.

Happy questioned in a concerned tone, "Are you alright Tony?" While he asked his question, Happy stepped towards Tony as if to support him, his arms half-extended and ready to catch Tony if he should fall.

That snapped Tony back to reality. Happy never called him by his first name if he could avoid it. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he offered shakily. He pushed himself off the car carefully and fully settled his weight on two feet.

As soon as he was balanced, he inclined his head to Happy as a show of thanks. Tony held his coffee close to him as he made his way to the tower. Once he was at the doorstep, he walked in and went over to the Avengers' private elevator, narrowly missing running into his numerous employees.

The insomniac pressed the up button on the elevator and started waiting. Just as he considered leaning against the wall, it opened and he entered. He pressed the button for the Avenger's lounge and took a sip of his coffee. Yep, perfect temperature.

As he was riding, he vaguely heard JARVIS welcome him home. He accordingly responded to the AI with a nod of thanks and continued waiting.

The elevator arrived at its designated stop and opened. Tony stepped out. He found the couch and collapsed onto it, leaning back and stretching out his legs. The couch didn't really fit him laying down on it; his feet were propped up on an armrest.

Tony raised his head and took another sip. The coffee was really good, but something was off about it. Something tasted weird… oh well; he was too tired to think about it anyways. Perhaps the new barista just made it differently than the others. Yeah… that's definitely it.

After drinking another gulp of his coffee, Tony managed to put the irresistible liquid drink down on the table and sank back into the cushions. He yawned loudly. This was weird. The coffee was supposed to help him wake up, not fall asleep! Something was definitely wrong… as exhausted as he was before he drank his coffee; he was now at least one-and-a-half times as fatigued.

Although he was perturbed by his sudden drowsiness, Tony himself couldn't summon up the energy to raise a ruckus about it or investigate it further. He was _soooooo_ tired. Too tired. Exhausted. All he could do was wait for sleep to take him into its sweet, comforting embrace and hope that it wouldn't betray him once more with visions of the past.

Finally he succumbed to the siren call of sleep. Before he was fully asleep however, he dimly felt the unmistakable sensation of being lifted up into the air.


End file.
